HURL 53miler race report

With great excitement and some nervousness for my first 50miler, I found myself running in the chilly morning air by headlamp out of the Willard Creek trailhead in the Elkhorn Mountains outside of Helena.  Having never ran further than ~34miles, my race plan for the day was a conservative start for the initial 30miles and 8000vert to the town of Elkhorn.  For these 6 and a half hours, I was feeling great, enjoying the surprisingly cool overcast conditions as the miles clicked by at an easy pace, hiking most of the climbs and slowly moving up through the field from approximately 13^th to 8^th place. 

I switched to fresh shoes/socks and stuffed my face at the Elkhorn aid station, excited for the big 3000ft climb ahead.  After a few minutes of hiking, there was a mile or so stretch of flat road running that took me by surprise, and having just eaten a ton of food, my stomach took a nasty turn from totally fine to super upset in a matter of minutes.  What would ensue was nearly 3 hours of GI issues and some nausea that slowed me way down, forcing me to lay down on the side of the trail several times, able to eat little to no calories.  I was feeling a little better by the aid station at mile 36 and was able to stomach some salty foods. 

By aid at mile 42 my stomach was mostly settled and back to normal so I was able to mentally switch gears from simply “keep moving” to actually pushing hard/racing.  In doing so I was able to catch and pass a few racers that had overtaken me when I was hurting and moving slow.  I reached the aid station at mile 46 feeling the best I had in several hours and pushed hard on the remaining ~7 miles (mostly downhill) to the finish.  I was behind schedule with what I had told my mom for anticipated finishing time so it was a great surprise to see her cheering about a mile before the finish.  I ended up 8^th overall in 13:08, well behind my race goals of sub 12 hours and top 5 male.  Oh well.  I was excited to have finished so strong, rather than limping (figuratively) across the line.

start/finish area - great low-key race environment

low quality picture before they took the banner down

strawberry lookout the next day

My mom and I had a great evening cheering on other finishers and camping that night.  Hot sunny conditions ensued on Sunday but we got in a nice bike ride together to Strawberry Lookout before parting ways and heading home.

Stats: about 53miles and 13,500 vert in 13:08

Rose: closing strong on my first 50miler

Thorn: my ~3 hours of GI problems and ensuing snail’s pace

Bud:  this was a big boost in confidence for me to tackle longer outings in the future (teton crest trail in a day, gannett peak in a day, etc) 

Chouinard Ridge - middle teton

A week after climbing full exum, I found myself back in garnet canyon, headed solo up the south fork to the south side of the middle teton.  

standard middle teton view from the garnet trail

As I hiked past several people and small groups also headed for the middle, I hoped no one would blindly follow me, assuming I was headed for the standard SW couloir route.  Instead I deviated to the bottom of continuous snow below the ellingwood couloir, where I put on microspikes and slowly kicked switchbacks up the semi-steep snow to reach the base of the chouinard ridge.  

from L to S - chouinard ridge, chouinard couloir, SE buttress, ellingwood couloir

I spent a solid 15 minutes on a large ledge below the route to dry out shoes/socks and refuel.  Above me lay over 1500 vertical feet of scrambling, reportedly up to 5.4 in difficulty.  I was stoked.  I slowly worked my way up the broad ridge, enjoying the solid rock and choose-your-own-adventure wide array of route options/difficulty.  

bottom of chouinard ridge

the SE buttress (III 5.7) looks worthy of a return trip

midway up the route

Route finding was fairly straight forward but there were a few steep sections where I had to downclimb and look around to find a more reasonable route.  I was surprised to find myself feeling a little relieved as the difficulty eased off and the route more-or-less deposited me in the upper SW couloir about a hundred feet below the summit.  I arrived on the summit about 5 hours into the day and enjoyed another long break of food, views and the company of those that had come up the SW couloir. 

upper portion of route

the crux of the way i went

the GFT

iceflow lake to the west 

I then descended the SW couloir and rock hopped and boot skied the snow patches of the south fork down to the meadows.   Despite hiking the entirely of the egress to the trailhead, I still had to pass and dodge countless hikers along the way.  A stark contrast to the solitude of the chouinard ridge but a small price to pay for playing in such an incredible mountain range.

Stats: roughly 13mi/6k vert/scrambling up to 5.4 in a leisurely 8.5 hours roundtrip

Rose: routefinding on the fly on very good rock

Thorn: crowds on the lower trail on the way down

Bud: the adjacent SE buttress with a partner and a rope

Thoughts: while I would definitely recommend this route to others, its worth noting that there is mandatory exposed 5.4/5 climbing (particularly on upper half) and is more routefinding intensive and committing than the CMC route on moran.  Also – descending the south fork of garnet is MUCH nicer the more snow there is

Exum Ridge

With Bria out of town and no local climbing partners yet, I responded to a partner posting on MP of someone looking for an exum ridge partner.  I met Nico for dinner in Jackson the night before our climb.  He was from Germany, in the midst of a month long US climbing trip and had never been to the tetons before.  The following day we had a blast climbing the full exum ridge together in perfect weather – a spectacular introduction to the tetons for Nico! 

classic view from the lower saddle

nico following the black face pitch

golden stair 

friction pitch

looking down the V pitch

We swung leads on the lower exum (III 5.7) with me lucking out and getting to lead the stellar black face pitch.  We simuled and soloed the bulk of the upper exum (II 5.5) but pitched out the friction pitch.  Although I had climbed the upper exum previously, I had apparently bypassed the friction and V-pitches since both were new to me this time around – go figure.  There was a line at both rappels but we eventually made it down to the upper saddle and continued down to the car, arriving a bit before dark.  A long but outstanding day.

teton shadows above bradley lake on the hike down

Rose: the exposed jug-hauling on the black face pitch

Thorn: crowds – at the base of the route and the rappels

Bud: this was my third time up the grand by a different route but there are still several more I’m looking forward to climbing

Buck E ridge loop

On a day with a marginal weather forecast and no climbing partner, I set out to climb the somewhat classic east ridge of buck, one of the last major teton summits I hadn’t yet climbed.  The climber’s trail up stewart draw was well established and easy to follow. 

early glimpse of buck on the approach

I reached the still frozen timberline lake in 2 hours before starting up the approach couloir to gain the east ridge.  Having carried microspikes, I put them to good use climbing snow all the way to the ridge, rather than exiting L onto rock mid-way up.  The scrambling on the ridge was awesome.  Solid rock, nice exposure, and a fun mix of 3^rd-4^th class with optional low 5^th sections as well. 

approach couloir 

E ridge scrambling

Rather than do the customary out-and-back, I opted to make it a loop by descending the SE ridge and coming down the death canyon switchbacks.  Downclimbing the SE ridge was straightforward 3^rd-4^th class to gain the prominent notch north of the tower.  From here, couloirs drop E (towards timberline lake) and W (towards the no wood basin).  I descended the W couloir til it cliffed out towards the bottom.  I traversed skier’s R, linking together a series of exposed and often loose, low 5^th class ledges and steps til I reached the talus slopes below.  

the SW side of buck from the trail

I then trended S to gain the trail and made the short climb and descent to static divide.  Through here I encountered a number of backpackers and day hikers that oftentimes had no clue how to properly hold or use their ice axe while traversing the remaining and often exposed patches of snow.  This was a little comical at times but also frightening.  From the divide I ran down the enjoyable switchbacks to the cabin and then out to the trailhead (with a quick detour to jump in phelps lake to keep the heat at bay).  All in all a great little half-day outing with a good mix of hiking, scrambling and running. 

looking north from the summit

Stats: about 13mi/6k vert in 6 hrs 

Rose: exposed 4^th and low 5^th scrambling on the ridge

Thorn: getting cliffed out on the couloir descent and the resulting downclimbing

Bud: the skiing down the N couloirs looks awesome

Thoughts: while I would recommend this loop to others, I think descending the E couloir from the notch in the SE ridge to bypass the tower on the E side and then climbing up to the buck-static saddle and descending to the trail would be a much better route

Welcome to the Tetons

Bria and I have been having a blast (both together and separately) exploring the running & biking trails around town and up at targhee.  Two noteworthy outings include table mountain and a climb of symmetry spire.

excited about our new backyard

We took the steep face trail up table and spent nearly an hour on the summit, drying out shoes and socks and taking in the awesome views.  We had been planning on descending the huckleberry trail but could see from the summit that the initial N-facing switchbacks were still completely buried in snow so we opted for the face trail instead.  I’m excited for some training on this steep, technical trail – over 4 thousand vert in 4 miles and up to 11,000ft and only 25 minutes from home!

this sign was an attractant, not a deterrent to me

up on the ridge, looking E towards the "table" and the tetons behind

We spent the weekend after the 4^th over on the E side of the tetons, excited for a redemption climb of symmetry spire’s SW ridge, after bailing on it last summer.  The climbing was good, the rock surprisingly solid for how chossy the ridge looks from below and the views outstanding.  We took our time and had a blast.  Looking forward to many more moderate routes in the park this summer.

approach above jenny lake

symmetry's SW ridge - it climbs better than it looks 

bria approaching the top of pitch 1

top section of pitch 3 

funny faces with the cathedral group behind (photo: bria)

a family of mountain goats on the way down

we love the tetons (photo: bria)

Rose: redemption on symmetry and the awesome view of the cathedral group at each belay

Thorn: low food, water and stoke levels on the symmetry walkoff back to our stash at the base of the route

Bud: knowing that playing in the tetons is now a weekly occurrence

My Sentinel Salute

Inspired and intimidated by the “Sentinel Salute” farewell tours of Justin Yates (17 laps in 24 hours back in 2014) and Mike Wolfe (19 laps! last june), I always told myself I would throw down my own “Sentinel Salute” if/when the time came for me to leave town.  After graduating and accepting a job in Driggs, Idaho, I found myself both excited and scared by the task that lay before me.  Granted it was completely voluntary, (not to mention ridiculous and meaningless to most other people), but it held significant meaning to me.  Over the years I’ve ran Sentinel hundreds of times and I even had a childhood birthday party at the cave.  So it felt fitting to spend one of my last days in Missoula pounding out lap after lap on this iconic mountain.

 

Given the relatively light running volume I’d yet accumulated this spring (and the fact that I was still on the tail end of a nasty 2 week viral sickness), I opted to “dumb down” the Salute to my level, with a goal of 10 laps in 12 hours.  What unfolded was a memorable goodbye to Missoula, capped with a beautiful sunset on the summit on my last lap with two good friends. 

With a well stocked cooler in the back of my pickup at the trailhead to serve as a self-serve aid station, I started up the ridge trail at 9am with mixed emotions of excitement, trepidation and nostalgia.  After 4 solo laps, it was awesome to enter the parking lot to see Jeff with my tailgate down, campchair and waterjug at the ready.  The conversation with Jeff on the ensuing lap was a nice reprieve from the mounting fatigue in my legs (mostly on the down) and the glaring hot sun (80s and bluebird).  After parting ways with Jeff back at the trailhead, I opted for a quick dip in the river to cool off, which was nothing short of spectacular.  

I bumped into Jeffrey on the way down from lap 6, who demonstrated tremendous support by joining me for the remainder of the day.  By the end of lap 7, it was evident from my splits that I wasn’t going to get in a 10^th lap before dark, which has a little disappointing but also somewhat relieving.  Lap 8 came and went, with poles providing a nice boost on the climb and my downhill pace slowing to a mere crawl.  On the final climb (#9), we bumped into John a few minutes up the ridge, which was an awesome surprise, who would join us for the final climb and descent.  On the summit, we relaxed and watched a beautiful sunset, a fitting end to a memorable goodbye to Missoula. 

summit #9 (photo: john)

A big thanks to Jeff, Jeffrey and John for coming out and helping keep me motivated and to all those who couldn’t make it but were there in spirit.

Stats – about 34mi and 18k vertical in 13 hours

Rose: mid-day swim in the river, mid-day gatorade courtesy of Jeffrey and Teresita (thanks!)

Thorn: relentless sun and heat

Bud: although leaving Missoula will be challenging in many regards, I’m really excited for life in Driggs and having the Tetons practically in my backyard     

Apathy in the Missions

In early May, Jeffrey and I were able to connect during a spell of high pressure for a day in the missions.  With an early departure from town and a nice forecast, we had high hopes for an awesome day.  Our plan was to head up to lucifer and picture lakes and then ski “whatever looked good.”  The dry trail to mission falls went smoothly but we lost the rough climber’s trail once or twice on the way to lucifer lake but eventually found our way, 3.5 hours into the day (slower than planned).  We skated across the lake before making the short climb to picture lake.  

garden wall, from picture lake

With the strong sun quickly warming E and S aspects, we opted to climb and ski the S face of shoemaker before it got too baked.  We managed to skin about halfway before transitioning to spikes and booting to the summit.  The ensuing run was marginal, already being too soft and grabby despite being firm enough minutes prior to warrant crampons.  From the bench below the run, we sought shade to discuss our next move.

climbing shoemaker, with the E side of sonielem ridge behind

nearing the summit of shoemaker, with S glacier peak behind and N glacier in the distance

Despite our gorgeous setting and the nice weather, we were both feeling rather uninterested and unsure of what to ski next.  Lots of recent wet slide debris on and below most runs and the blazing hot sun already having cooked E and S aspects left us with limited options.  We lazily decided to start up the garden wall couloir.  Mid-way up with very firm conditions in the shade, we decided to bail, not wanting to wait for the sun.  We skied down towards picture lake til we found access to running water.  In a huge departure from our usual style, we spent a solid 30+ minutes sitting around BSing and refilling bottles. 

sonielem ridge dominates the view looking west from atop shoemaker

Both in agreement that our stoke and motivation just wasn’t happening today for whatever reason, we decided to bail and make it back to town by dinner time.  Our egress took longer than expected, due in part to our decision to skin around the N side of lucifer lake, due to the amount of open water on the eastern shore that we hadn’t seen in the morning.  Even from the outlet of lucifer it took us nearly 3 hours to get down to the car.  Despite our funky mood and only skiing 1.3 runs, it was a beautiful day out in the rugged mission mountains. 

N and S glacier peaks from lucifer lake

About 6k vertical in 12 hours car-car

Rose: incredible views of the mission range atop mt. shoemaker

Thorn: weird, apathetic mood

Bud: returning for a ESM to lucifer lake traverse

Thoughts: while there is a tremendous amount of good ski terrain around lucifer and picture lakes, the approach is more challenging than the riddell lakes trail, ESM trail or ashley creek in my opinion.  Next time I would do a traverse from ESM to or from lucifer so that you only have to cover that approach/egress once in the day rather than twice.